Manifest destiny was a cultural belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America. The term "manifest destiny" was coined by newspaper editor John OSullivan in the mid-19th century to describe the belief that God intended for the United States to occupy North America from Atlantic to Pacific. The concept of manifest destiny included a belief in the inherent superiority of white Americans, as well as the conviction that they were destined by God to conquer the territories of North America, from sea to shining sea. There were three basic tenets to the concept: the United States was destined to expand across the continent, the expansion was inevitable, and the expansion was justified. Despite criticism, expansionists embraced the phrase, which caught on so quickly that its origin was soon forgotten. Manifest destiny was an expression of conviction in the morality and value of expansionism that complemented other popular ideas of the era, including American exceptionalism and Romantic nationalism.